This document specifies methods for quantitative determination of seven selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB28, PCB52, PCB101, PCB118, PCB138, PCB153 and PCB180) in soil, sludge, sediment, treated biowaste, and waste using GC-MS and GC-ECD (see Table 2).

The limit of detection depends on the determinants, the equipment used, the quality of chemicals used for the extraction of the sample and the clean-up of the extract.

Under the conditions specified in this document, lower limit of application from 1 μg/kg (expressed as dry matter) for soils, sludge and biowaste to 10 μg/kg (expressed as dry matter) for solid waste can be achieved. For some specific samples the limit of 10 μg/kg cannot be reached.

Sludge, waste and treated biowaste may differ in properties, as well as in the expected contamination levels of PCB and presence of interfering substances. These differences make it impossible to describe one general procedure. This document contains decision tables based on the properties of the sample and the extraction and clean-up procedure to be used.

NOTE            The analysis of PCB in insulating liquids, petroleum products, used oils and aqueous samples is referred to in EN 61619, EN 12766-1 and ISO 6468 respectively.

The method can be applied to the analysis of other PCB congeners not specified in the scope, provided suitability is proven by proper in-house validation experiments.